Quilting apparatus.



L- S. THOMAS.-

QUILTING APPARATUS. APPLICATION FILED MAY 29. mus.

Patented Aug.'21, 1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

L: S. THOMAS,

QUILTINGAPPARATUS.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- Patented Aug, 21, 1917.

ToaZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LINzm S. THOMAS, a citizen of the United States, residing in Battelle district, in the county of Monongalia and State of West Virginia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Quilting Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

The present-invention relates to improvements in quilting apparatus and has among other objects to provide a suitable frame structure for holding in proper shape the quilt material during the quilting process, such frame being of the knock down type so that when not in use it may be readily stored away'in compact form.

The essence of the invention lies particularly in the means for stretching the material operated upon and in the adjusting means therefor whereby said material may be maintained in smooth condition irrespective of whether it is narrow-or relatively wide.

In addition to the foregoing it is further my object to provide novel locking means both for the frame elements and for the quilt carrying rolls detachably connected thereto.

These and such other objects as may hereinafter appear are attained by the novel construction, combination and arrangement of parts to be hereinafter specifically described and claimed. Reference will now be had to the accompanyng drawings forming a part of this specification, wherein:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of an apparatus constructed in accordance with my invention.

Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view on the line 22 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the device.

Fig. 4: is a sectional view on the line 44L of Fig. 3, showin more clearly the details of construction 0 the actuating and locking means for a quilt carrying roll.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a gripping member and its operative connection.

I Fig. 6 is a fragmentary detail showing the locking device used for the frame elements of the quilting apparatus.

Throughout the following detail description and on the several figures of the drawings, similar parts are referred to by like reference characters.

Referring to the drawings, and specificall; describing the invention, 1, l designate Specification or Letters Patent.

Application filed May 29, 1916. Serial No. 100,582.

Patented Aug. 21, 191 a.

spaced standards carrying the side frame members 2, 2 for the quilting apparatus,

said standards being connected by the cross bar 3. Each end of the bar 3 is formed with spaced tenons 4 which project through the cooperating standard'l and are held in such cooperation by a locking device consisting of a plate member formed with opposite arms 6 pivotally connected to the outer face of the standard at 7. Each of the arms 6 has formed thereon a lateral projection 8 which engages in a transverse slot of a tenon 4 when the plate is rotated about its pivot from the full line position shown in Fig. 6 to the dotted position of said figure. This plate is furthermore provided with spaced studs 9 with which lateral projections 10 formed on a lever 11 also pivoted on the pivot 7, are adapted to cooperate for the purpose of rotating said locking plate. The lever 11 is free to move independently of the locking plate so as to be normally maintained in a vertical plane contiguous to the face of the standard to which it is connected, and this free movement enables the lever to be maintained in a position where it will not be accidentally struck by operators'using the frame of this apparatus. When the locking plate is to be disengaged the lever is capable of being rotated until it impinges one of the studs 9 permitting said plate to then be reversely actuated and disengaged from the slots of the tenons.

At each end of the frame is journaled quilt carrying rolls 12, 13, the extremities of the frame members 2 being suitably formed to provide bearings for the ends of said rolls. A particular feature of the V one of the side members 2 is a locking pawl 18, the end of which is designed to engage in a notched disk 19 fixed on the adjacent end portion of the roll. This locking member holds its coiiperating roll in adjusted position'so as to prevent unauthorized winding or unwinding of the quilting material during the quilting process. The locking member 18 is held in operative position with respect to the locking disk 19 by means of the projection 20' carried by the cap 14 above said member being sufliciently spaced from the locking element to permit of its engaging and disengaging actions. A second projection 21 on the cap 14 engages the under edge of the locking member when the cap is raised for the removal of the roll from its bearings and this accomplishes automatically the disengagement of said locking member with respect to the roll disk with which it cooperates.

One of the quilt carryin rolls, namely that designated 13 is provi ed with means for rotating the same so as to produce a stretching of the quilted material, such means consisting of a lever 22 apertured at its end to engage around the extremity of the roll 13 adjacent to the notched disk 19. This lever is provided with a lateral arm 23 and an intermediate connection 24 holding the end of the member 23 in spaced relation, said intermediate connection being adapted for engagement in the notches of the disk 19 by a longitudinal shifting of the lever so as to move the roll step by step through the instrumentality of said lever. The material to be quilted, designated 25, is wound upon one of the quilt carrying rolls and the end thereof connected to the other roll as by means of the fastening devices 26,. As the material is quilted it is wound upon the last-mentioned roll until the processhas been completed.

One of the particular featuresof this apparatus is the provision of tensioning means arranged for engagin the lateral edges of the material to be qui ted so as to hold the said material in smooth condition at all times having reference to that portion of said material which is being operated upon. Thewtensioning means is arranged intermediate the rolls 12 and 13 and includes a rotating member or roller 27 mounted upon supporting brackets 28 on the inner face of a side frame member 2. This roller carries a notched disk 28' with which a locking pawl 29 is adapted to engage to hold it at adjusted position. One or more flexible connecting members 30 are attached to the roller 27 at one end and at the other end to one of a pair of rigid connections or bars 31 on which the ends of pivotal clamping jaw members 32 are mounted as shown most clearlyin Fig. 5. The flexible connecting member 30 passes over the other of the bars 31 and is held in relative position by a guide member "33. It will be understood that the jaws of the clamping members 32 when held in position for engagement with the material to be quilted will be automatically closed upon manual rotation of the roller 27, which winds up the flexible connections 30 and produces tension which will bring the bars 32 closer together. One of these tensioning arrangements 'is located at each side of the frame so that the material may be stretched from opposite directions as well as longitudinally also by the quilt carrying rolls, most effectively holding the material in proper condition for quilting. Whenever the gripping members] 32 are found to be 1n a position interfering with the quilting action any one of the same may be shifted longitudinally of the bars 31 by simply releasing the jaw members suficiently to permit the shifting action. Any desired number of these gripping elements and flexible connec tions may be provided as found convenient or desirable.

. The apparatus which has been described can very easily be knocked down by disconnecting the respective elements and this enables what is ordinarily a cumbersome apparatus to be compactly stored away when not in use.

Slight changes may readily be made in the details of construction and arrangement of the parts without departing from the spirit of the invention and within the scope of the claims hereto appended.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new is:

1. In quilting apparatus of the class de scribed, the combination of a frame, spaced rolls for winding and unwinding the ma terial to be quilted, and tension means intermediate the spaced rolls adapted for engagement with the edges of the material and comprising a plurality of spaced gripping members having jaw elements adapted for opening and closing, means common to all of said gripping members for imparting closing gripping action to the jaw elements, and actuating means supported by the frame and operatively connected to the last mentioned means.

2. In quilting apparatus of the class described, the combination of a frame, spaced rolls for winding and unwinding the material to be quilted, a tension device supported by the frame including a plurality of gripping members having pivoted jaw elements engageable with the edge of the material aforesaid, rigid connecting means on which all of said gripping members are carried,- and a flexible connection connected with the connecting means aforesaid whereby to produce clamping action of the jaws upon adjustment of the tension means.

3. In quilting apparatus of the class described, the combination of a frame for supporting the material to be quilted, a tension device carried by said frame comprising a plurality of pivotal gripping jaws, a pair of bars or rods to which the gripping jaws are adjustably connected, a flexible connection connected to one of said rods and engaging maven the other, and means for actuating said flexs ible connection to bring said rods together and thereby impart clamping action to the gripping jaws.

4. In quilting apparatus of the class described, the combination of a frame for supporting the material to be quilted, a tension device carried by said frame comprising a plurality of pivotal gripping jaws, a pair of bars or rods to which the respective gripping jaws are connected, a flexible connection connected to one of said rods and engaging the other, an actuating roller to which the flexible connection is attached for winding and unwinding thereupon, and guide means cooperating with the rods and the flexible connection. 7

5. In quilting apparatus of the class described, the combination of a frame com prising spaced standards, a quilt carryingroll journaled in the ends of said standards, an openable bearing cap carried by said standard, a locking member engageable with the roll to hold it at adjusted positions, and means on said cap for holding the locking member in an operative position with respect to the roll.

6. In quilting apparatus of the class described, thecombination of a frame comprising spaced standards, a quilt carrying roll journaled in the ends of said standards, an

openable bearing cap carried by said stand ard, a locking member engageable with the roll to hold it at adjusted positions, and

engage said locking member when removing means on the cap engageable with the looking member on opening movement therof to simultaneously disengage the locking member from the roll and release said roll.

7. In quilting apparatus of the classdescribed, the combination of a frame comprising spaced standards, a quilt carrying roll journaled in the ends of said standards, an openable bearing cap carried byeach standard, a locking member engageable with the roll to hold it at adjusted positions, and spaced projecting elements on the cap between which the locking member aforesaid is arranged for engagement with said memto project through its cooperating standard,

a locking device comprising an armed plate pivotally connected to the standard and engageable with the slotted tenon, and an actuating lever pivotally connected to the standard and having engaging elements for rotating the plate on its pivot to interlock the plate with the tenon.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

LINZIE SHERMAN THOMAS. 

